What is the skimm?
"That sounds incredibly sexist."
Yes, it does sound sexist. After a couple of months of seeing the company name pop up on my Facebook newsfeed, I couldn't get it out of my head--so I decided to do some follow up.
theSkimm describes itself as "a daily email-newsletter that gives you everything you need to start your day. We do the reading for you and break down the latest news and information with fresh editorial content." Who is we? Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin left NBC to create a news source for "Women, 22 to 34, female millennials, smart, in a big city with money to spend." (Huffington Post) With more than a million subscribers, they present the news in a succinct and conversational tone, encouraging readers to share and express their knowledge in public spheres:
The newsletter opens with the story of the day, broken down into bite-sized segments like 'What' and 'Why,' followed by a short summary of the day’s top stories in a winking, chatty voice organized under rubrics like 'What to say on a date' or 'What to say at dinner with girlfriends' or 'What to say to your boss.'"
Nitasha Tiku, The Observer
IS it good or bad?
Alyssa Rosenberg defends theSkimm by emphasizing that it's "repackaging of the gender-neutral act of headline scanning that most people do everyday." And true, there's nothing to be ashamed of if you're trying to educate yourself. Historically, knowledge and political rhetoric has been privileged culturally and systematically. In my reflection from September 14th Subject vs. Object, I touch on the masculine traits associated with the sciences (objectivity, rationality) and political discourse has always been dominated by men due to excluding women from education and voting. From the factory to the university, suffrage and affirmative action, women have been consistently climbing uphill just to enter the professional arena. Now that we're getting close, we have to make an impression--and theSkimm is one way to do it.
But in reality, this newsletter endorses overcompensation in everyday conversation. Labelling or tagging news quips with everyday situations like the ones Tiku pointed out makes the news fashionable and exclusive "turning current events into cocktail party chit-chat." (Tiku) In a response to Rosenberg, Katy Waldman called out theSkimm for its use of gendered stereotypes and assuming a collective aspiration to impress peers, dates and higher ups.
Why does it matter?
I mean to be reminiscent of the dialogues that popularized Newton's philosophies by Benjamin Martin in the 18th century: "The Young Gentlemen's and Ladies Philosophy". Martin, Francesco Algarotti and Fontenelle believed that they could create more conversation around the sciences if they made it accessible/fashionable to women. In these dialogues, strong and knowledgeable male characters would explain theories to women who were flighty and distracted--philosophizing them out of "Censure, Satyr, and Gossip." (John Harris, Astronomical Dialogues between a Gentleman and a Lady)
While some women saw this as a courtesy and an entryway to the sciences--women who centered their lives around knowledge were insulted. Laura Bassi, the second woman to graduate from a formal university in 1732, was the subject of Algarotti's female character "the Marquise of E". But her specialized and advanced knowledge was interpreted as a foil for "Newtonian genius" (Messbarger).
(Here's a quick "Skimm", genius stems from the latin word "gentes"--referring to those who own land, which at the time, was exclusively male.)
By considering her a genius, Laura Bassi was deemed a token and an exception amongst women; her appointment to the university was noted as "ceremonial" rather than deserved. Algarotti undermined her further but attributing his work to her "Minerva-esque" academic contribution. Algarotti, Fontenelle, and Martin created work that didn't perceive women as genius--but rather a passive and ingenuous being that doesn't value knowledge as much as a man. Their dialogues were meant to popularize Newton's ideas and make it accessible to not only women, but anyone who perceived women as lesser to men. While philosophy is a "darling science for man", it is also a "peculiar grace in the fair sex." (Martin)
Does this mean we can compare Weisberg and Zakin to Newtonian-enthusiasts?
Newtonian dialogues and theSkimm both value true knowledge, but they also create a pattern of making knowledge exclusive. The dialogues and theSkimm essentially have the same demographic: white, young, connected women who are of considerable wealth and status. In Laura Bassi and Emilie Du Chatelet's time, knowledge of the natural world was fashionable but diving into experimentation was considered pretentious or scandalous. Today, women are patrons and participants in the sciences but they are still misrepresented as overly-passionate or #distractinglysexy. All of these attitudes weren't exclusively perpetuated by men--horizontal oppression and competition intersects with the sciences, media, and other professional pursuits. Zakin and Weisberg read and edit sources to create quality reading for a larger quantity of readers but they also create hierarchy amongst women.
In their logo, interviews, and style of news coverage, theSkimm is clear about their demographic and they are always one to take an objective standpoint--but there was just one pattern I couldn't let go of. In their "Repeat after me" section--which includes the conversational quips Tiku mentions above, they've used the headline "What people are talking about...". Each of the stories that follow pertain to violence and people of color. It isn't "What YOU should be talking about..." or "When your friend asks you about systematic racism..."; it's a statement that others the conversation, deferring the story to another person's responsibility.
Knowledge is still privileged in many ways. Access to education is hindered by economic barriers and systematic discrimination. Laura Bassi graduated from the University of Bologna in 1732 but Lucy Sessions was the first black woman to graduate from a university in 1850. While white women make 78% of what white men make, black women only make 64%, and Latina women 54%. Today anti-transgender policy bars transwomen and transmen from employment and education; this decreases the entry and retention rate of students who identify as trans. Even though a source is endorsed by Oprah, it doesn't make the mission inclusive. Those who seek to liberate or inspire women should include all women.